This invention relates generally to engines having a flywheel and, more specifically, to a housing for the flywheel to provide an oil bath for a driven gear set engaged with the flywheel.
For engines serving as the powerplant to provide operational power for equipment such as swathers, wherein the engine drives apparatus such as a hydraulic pump, is common to provide a driven gear set in engagement with the flywheel to transfer rotational power from the flywheel to the driven apparatus. Such a driven gear set requires an oil bath for proper lubrication thereof during rotational operation, which normally requires that the flywheel housing be sealed to prevent the loss of lubricating oil therefrom. Such seals would normally be required between the flywheel and engine block, between the rear block plate and the flywheel housing and between the flywheel housing and the starter motor. Furthermore, immersing the flywheel into an oil bath results in power losses due to the drag of the flywheel assembly through the oil.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a wet flywheel housing in design that would permit the proper lubrication of a driven gear set connected to the flywheel while minimizing the sealing problems and reducing the power losses due to rotation of the flywheel through an oil bath.